Box Office: ‘Need for Speed’ Takes Off with $1.1 Million at Late-Night Shows

Disney-DreamWorks’ race-car actioner “Need for Speed” has gotten out of the gate with a respectable $1.1 million from Thursday-night showings in the U.S.

Warner Bros. saw a robust start for midnight screenings of “Veronica Mars” with $260,000 at 95 locations, which sold out several weeks ago. The Kickstarter-funded “Mars” is opening simultaneously on video-on-demand and at 291 theaters.

“Need for Speed,” projected to launch with about $25 million this weekend at 3,115 locations, matched the numbers for late-night openings for cop comedy “Ride Along” and Tom Cruise sci-fier “Oblivion.” It also started near the $1.4 million for “Gravity.”

“Need for Speed” should be able to tap into the young male demo, who have helped make “Fast and Furious” a powerful franchise for Universal. The film, directed by Scott Waugh from a script by George Gatins, is an adaptation of the Need for Speed videogames by Electronic Arts.

Lionsgate’s “Tyler Perry’s Single Moms Club” is also opening this weekend with tracking for a launch in the $15 million-$18 million range at 1,896 locations. “Club” took in an estimated $180,000 to $200,000 at late-night Thursday screenings.

The second weekends of Warner Bros.-Legendary’s “300: Rise of an Empire” and the Fox-DreamWorks’ toon “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” are both expected to finish the frame with $20 million to $23 million.